Panthers Football Blown Out By West Deptford

After going three games without letting the big play hurt them, long touchdowns burned the football team all night Friday, en route to a 46-0 homecoming loss to West Deptford.

The loss dropped Panthers to 2-5 on the season.

Friday's first play had Panthers fumble away a possession at their own 34-yard line.

And West Deptford Eagles running back Gerald Towns went 16 yards three plays later, putting Panthers in a 7-0 hole just 54 seconds into the game.

“Its (been like this) all year and it’s just been very frustrating,” said Panthers head coach Jack McConnell. “I don’t even know what happened (on the fumble), but it’s par for the course.”

After a few three-and-outs by each team, West Deptford took over on Collingswood's 44-yard line with three minutes left in the first quarter. The Eagles used 12- and 11-yard runs to put them on the Panthers’ 20, then implemented a series of short runs to get into the end zone.

A Jake Hannan 3-yard touchdown run would make the score 14-0.

The teams traded possessions in the second quarter, with neither making big strides towards the end zone, until 1:30 left in the half.

That's when things started to get ugly for the Panthers.

Collingswood faced a fourth-and-three at their own 42. Panthers lined up to punt, with every intention of drawing the opposition offsides to give them a first down.

But Eagles didn't take the bait, and Collingswood punted.

The first play of the drive had Hammel throw an 82-yard bomb to Tom Jakubowski, lighting the scoreboard with 20-0.

“They’re a big-play team and we knew that, coming into tonight,” said McConnell. “We miss one tackle and we’re in trouble, but we knew that.”

Collingswood attempted an onside kick coming out of the half, which was within inches of being recovered.

But the first play of the half had Eagles running back Connor Smith take it 79 yards, to the house. Towns would go 59 yards on the Eagles’ next possession.

Panthers were able to put together some decent drives leading to a few first downs, but—as has been their problem all season—they were never able to put together a series of complete drives. A sack here, a play for negative yards there, and the occasional penalty helped doom the offense.

“We don’t really have a big-play offense,” McConnell said. “We’ve missed some good opportunities. Where we play good high school football is from the 20 to the 20. It’s just not getting in the end zone once we’re in the red zone.”

The Panthers have three games left in the season: after playing Gateway Regional High School at home next week, they'll travel to Sterling High School Nov. 23. The Panthers will also play a state tournament game in between.

“I want our younger kids to get better, and I want our seniors to go out with a little bit of pride,” McConnell said after Friday's loss. “I think we should be 4-3 right now, and that’s tough to swallow. But the kids keep fighting. I have to give them credit for that. No matter what happens, they fight and fight and fight.”